Housings of this general type are offered by Cannon Electric, Minnesota Manufacturing Company, Souriau & Cie, Thomas & Betts Corporation, AEG-Telefunken, and Amphenol-Tuchel Electronics. These housings, together with the plug connectors installed therein, can only be fastened by means of a single type of fastening to a fixture that holds the matching plug connector. Thus, for example, the housings of the first four of the above-mentioned manufacturers can in each case be mounted only by means of screws, whereas the housing of AEG-Telefunken can be mounted detachably on the device holding the matching plug connector only by means of a locking catch, and the housing of Amphenol-Tuchel Electronics only by means of a locking wire strap.
Connector housings which provide only one type of locking mechanism lack flexibility. Practically speaking, when one purchases a housing with a plug connector installed in it from a particular manufacturer, one is bound once and for all to the type of locking mechanism which is provided by the manufacturer. One cannot easily or even possibly switch over to other types of locking mechanisms, even when there are important constructional or operational reasons for doing so. For example, the screw lock may be regarded as the most statically stable type of locking mechanism, which, however, cannot be used if the housing does not provide for it. On the other hand, it may be desirable to use a catch lock of a wire strap lock because the screw lock cannot be detached rapidly enough or could beciome detached due to vibrations. In addition, the prior art housings for plug connectors permit the cable to exit the housing in only one predetermined direction. Should operational or constructional reasons dictate that the cable exit the housing in a different direction, the prior art housings have not provided such flexibility. Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a housing of the type mentioned above which can be fastened detachably on the fixture that holds the matching plug connector by means of one of several types of fastening as desired. In addition to this it should be constructed simply and sturdy in the face of mechanical demands, should be economical to produce, and provided with a wire output opening through which the wire can be led out of the housing in different directions in such a way as to be practically free of kinking.